BMX National Series & National BMX Championships

The BMX National Series rounds 9 & 10 as well as the National BMX Championships was hosted by the Cradle BMX club in Gauteng on the 21^st & 22^nd September. KZN sent through a large contingent of riders including 14 x riders that have progressed through the KZN Cycling Development programme. This trip made for an exciting adventure for many of the youngsters involved with the track venue being situated in the Rhino & Lion Reserve and gave the riders and spectators alike a unique experience of racing BMX while in view of a variety of African wildlife. The track and facility was in excellent condition which made for exciting racing over the weekend. The smaller size of berms and jumps lent itself to being better suited to younger riders however made the Elite races no less exciting and the KZN team achieved some excellent results with a few outstanding performances.

Manqoba Madida won a thrilling final on Saturday for the National Age Group Series but was unlucky to finish 4^th in SA Championships race on Sunday after a small mistake in the final despite winning all his qualifying races preceding the final. Following in his brother’s footsteps with a clear natural talent for riding bicycles, Mongezi Madida who is the younger brother of Manqoba managed to achieve an SA 4 placing in the final. To put things in perspective, he is a novice rider who only started riding BMX this year and raced against the Expert Class and well-seasoned riders who have been racing for years. All things considered, it was an amazing result and is an exciting prospect that has been unearthed and we look forward to seeing if he match and possibly better his big brother’s progress on the international scene. Wandile Mbili from Ilembe also achieved an excellent result considering this was his first national event (and first trip out of the Province actually) winning through to the finals and attaining a SA7 number. Tyler Thompson managed to retain his SA 1 title with clinical racing from start to finish. All in all, the KZN team performed exceptionally well throughout and it is extremely pleasing to see the young riders that have progressed through the development programme achieving some exceptional results with ten riders winning through to the finals and being awarded SA numbers.

The full honours list is below.

Tate Barnard – SA3

Mvelo Ntombela – SA6

Sphelele Ntombela – SA7

Mongezi Madida SA4

Anele Ndlovu SA3

Logan Lambert SA6

Manasseh Meintkies SA6

Jordan Smallbone SA6

Zaid Stofberg SA3

Sisanda Ngcobo SA3

Wandile Mbili SA7